A marathon of events...

This is going to be a long one if I blog everything I intend to... we've had quite the busy week...

PART I: IF AT FIRST YOU DON'T SUCCEED...Don't try, try again - there's a good reason that it's the definition of insanity...

So, yesterday I went to pick up my new glasses (2 pair of single-vision lenses to get rid of my bifocles and an upgraded prescription for both - I had no idea how CLEAR the world could be!)...

I got in my car. I shut the door. I put the key in the ignition and gave it a turn. Everything turned on just right. I pulled up to the first stop sign and noticed that I heard more "outside" noise than I should and peeked at my door and noticed it wasn't shut tight (I could see a little blue sky in places I should have only seen rubber seal.) So, I opened and shut the door. I drove a little ways and still noticed too much outside noise. So, I turned to examine and sure enough - the door was STILL not shut! "What the...?" So, proving to myself that I really can be smarter than a door and get it to shut properly, I gave it the brute force necessary to effectively complete the task.

*CRUNCH*

Well, I succeeded in closing the door. I also succeeded in completely destroying the latch on the flap of my purse that had been stuck in the door and keeping it from shutting properly. In fact, I was so completely effective on getting the door closed on this attempt, that I could not open it from the inside of the car. When I arrived at my destination, I had to climb over the gear shift, exit from the passenger side and work the door from the outside until I could open it and inspect the damage done to the clasp on my purse...

PART II: I'VE NEVER WANTED A POOL AND STILL DON'T

So, I was sitting at my desk, yesterday when David called.
"Hello - schnookums - what's up?" (Don't worry - I have caller ID and only answer that way as more of a joke...)
"So....have I told you lately how much I love you?," David asked sweetly.
"Yes, you have, but the tone in your voice smells of ulterior motives..... what did you do?"
"Nothing - really. But I have good news and bad news."
"Oh boy!"
"Which do you want first?"
"Let's end on a good note. Give me the bad news first."
"The water heater died."

This was actually not that huge of a deal or that surprising since the water heater had tripped the circuit breaker it's hooked to twice in the last week or so. Apparently David decided to tinker with it a little to figure out why it was having problems.

"So what's the good news," I ask.
"Adam got that bath you wanted to give him last night and we have a shop vac and it does a really good job with water messes."

David had called a water heater technician to get some pointers. He was told to look at some part in the top and the bottom of the water heater. He drained the water, looked at the top piece that was all corroded and misshapen as the tech had told him. David then went to look at the bottom part and that's when he discovered that not ALL of the water was drained as he thought and water began shooting all over the basement.

Adam had a great time!

PART III: EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW, AGAIN

So - we now have a new water heater, and it works great. It was time for a new one anyway. The old one was 8 years old and probably never properly maintained, but probably won't last as long anyway because of the hardness of our well water. The tech told us that water heaters can only be counted on for 6-12 years depending on water quality and maintenance.

We also purchased our new wood-burning furnace. It's actually an add-on furnace that uses the existing duct-work to heat the house. It basically plays into my "hippie" ways - but of course proves I'm no tree hugger. Just interested in "responsible conservationism" and subduing and working the land properly. Besides, we paid for the furnace with our farmer's market money and it will help reduce our reliance on propane. This isn't politically motivated - it's "self-reliance" motivated and will be cost-reducing in the long run as last winter we paid $1000 to heat our home with the propane tank and that's about what we spent for the new furnace. Yes, I'm thrilled. Yes, I know I'm odd. : )

PART IV: THE END OF THE HUNTING SEASON

So - Sunday was bittersweet for me. It was the last day of the deer hunting season. In my wacky ways - I've been ever more sold on hunting. I certainly never opposed it (except for those who do it just to kill something - but those who eat the meat, I'm perfectly fine with). In these days of uncertainty and learning to be more self-reliant, I see great benefit to know how to capture and prepare your own meat if a heifer is not readily available. So, in addition to my desire for our own chickens for eggs and meat - I'm thinking I might try my hand at hunting next year. I'm not sure that I could handle gutting the thing, but the benefit of marrying into a family of such manly-men, I'm sure I could talk them into doing it for me.

However, I am looking forward to walking around my property and "neighborhood," again, without worrying about whether my attire is bright enough and non-gamey enough. Not that I'll be doing much strolling about while the temperatures remain this cold!